The Power Struggle Trilogy
by Starmetal
Summary: This is my trilogy that I wrote to pick up the storyline of ONI, starting after the game ends... I apologize for chapter one having the same title as WJTW's fic... unfortunately I wrote my story before he did, but I just now got a hold of Microsoft Word f
1. Aftermath

Part One of the Power Struggle Trilogy: Aftermath  
  
The following takes place approximately one year after Muro's plan to destroy the atmospheric processors and kill those without a Daodan Chrysalis.  
  
In an old chop shop that was evacuated due to toxic atmospheric gases that flooded it years ago, Mai sits in her "home" writing her journal on her old data link. She writes uneasily, knowing that tomorrow she will start a course of events that will change the world forever. She writes:  
  
"Last year, I thought that what I am about to do would be impossible. But in three weeks, I will bring complete destruction to the TCTF and the Syndicate.  
  
When I killed Muro, the Syndicate had a reformation in the ranks. They switched to a triumvirate. The Syndicate decided that this was the best way to protect their power. To bring the heads of the Syndicate down, I would have to kill all three dictators at once. That at least is almost feasible. However, if I destroy the Syndicate, the TCTF will move right in and "acquire" all of the Syndicate resources. Warehouses, armories, drugs, everything. The only reason that the TCTF didn't do this when I killed Muro, is because I crippled their special forces by killing Griffin. Unfortunately, if I take out the TCTF, the Syndicate will take over TCTF resources.  
  
So here was my dilemma; I couldn't take out the TCTF or the Syndicate individually. I had to do it simultaneously. I spent weeks in my father's old lab trying to figure out what resources I would have to attain.  
  
Fortunately, as weird as this sounds, one month and two weeks after I killed Muro, the TCTF broke into the lab to destroy my father's records. They were too important to be left laying around. So, three teams of Black Ops forces broke into the lab while I was searching my father's records for the fourth time. I assessed their mission immediately. Standard procedure. Three teams enter. Fourth is outside the door. Fifth is surrounding the building. Four more are one block away. Like I said, standard procedure for someone like me. It was obvious they expected me to be here.  
  
Lucky for me that they didn't know I had hijacked eight trucks of plastic explosive from TCTF procurement forces. I spent the last two weeks rigging the entire building to go. I had just laid in my escape track that past Thursday.  
  
I was sitting in the chair behind the desk, contemplating what I was even doing there. I had a feeling something bad was going to happen about five seconds before they ripped through the door. I had been getting mental omens when something threatening was coming. I was also noticing the increasing effects that hypos were having on me. One completely healed me. And if I used one when I wasn't injured, my skin took on a purple sheen. The glow was still there, but it seemed like it was getting larger and more flame-like. I couldn't get hurt while I was surrounded by the Daodan flame either. I'm getting side tracked.  
  
My plan was to hit myself with a hypo while I popped the hatch under the desk and slide down the tube to the sewer. Connected to the hatch was a switch that was set to blow the building when I crossed the infrared net set six feet below the floor.  
  
My escape plan worked. Almost as soon as the hypo hit my skin, I ignited. I slid down the tube, hit the net, and was propelled by the explosion that took out four square blocks. The sewers were twenty feet below ground level. The flame that spit me out of the tube also ignited all the methane gas contained within the sewer. It was like a blue green wave of fire. It washed over me like a tide. I didn't even feel the heat.  
  
I took the sewer to my backup facility. The chop shop. I knew the TCTF wouldn't follow me there. They couldn't. It was a long way there, and I used the time to think. I had just lost all the records regarding the Daodan Chrysalis, limited as they were. I also realized that I had been wasting my time there. I had been through everything that was there at least three times. There was nothing I could use. I didn't want to face the truth. I was alone this time. Truly alone.  
  
I got to the chop shop and headed for the circuit box. I opened my cargo pocket to get my flashlight when I noticed I could see in the pitch black. My body was illuminating the room because my flame was still active. I used that hypo over six hours ago. Why was I still encompassed by the Daodan flame? It had never lasted this long before. Then I remembered what had happened to me when I killed Barabas and Muro. I was having another Daodan "growth spurt." But this time was different.  
  
I felt it coming. Like that anxiety you get before anything big. It started right above my navel. I focused on it, instantly knowing what was happening. I concentrated on its growth, its strength, its awakening. The entire warehouse went a purple-white. I felt it emerge from its shell, me, and place itself over me, almost like it was now my shell. I felt warm, content, and for the first time in what felt like forever, I was happy, completely happy.  
  
The room returned to its normal black void. I felt around for the flashlight in my pocket when, suddenly, the room was lit. I moved to the circuit box only to see that the main power was still off. I found a reflective bumper that hadn't rusted. My eyes were purple-white. I could have sworn they looked like fire. Maybe it was my imagination. My eyes no longer had distinction between the white, the iris, or the pupil. Just purple-white. I grabbed my flashlight. I shined it toward the bumper. My eyes lost the glow and I felt something slide across my eyes. I brushed my eyes with my hand and then looked at the bumper again. I could see a seam on the outside edge of my eye. It was then that I also noticed that my eye as a whole was darker. It dawned on me. It was similar to the inner eyelid of a frog. It was shielding my eyes from the intense light.  
  
I spent the next month discovering new abilities I had gained. My skin was soft to the touch but hard as diamond to a knife blade. I couldn't discover a limit to my strength. My agility was increased along with my speed. It felt like I was a white noise generator because my movements were absolutely silent. My shooting accuracy was perfect up to 125 yards, and past that, it only slightly decreased. My body even seemed to eliminate the recoil of weapons. When I practice climbing, my finger tips sharpen and seem to dig into the surface I'm on. I have drilled myself in activating and deactivating my Daodan flame, but it is much easier to do when I am threatened. Falling no longer phases me. I have yet to be injured by a fall, although the most I have fallen is 1,038 feet. I found that if I spend an hour and a half in a meditative state, I can stay completely active for the rest of the day without sleep. Recently, I've been using a lot of phase cloaks to spy and it would appear that my body can duplicate the effect. I am sure that there are some things I have yet to see.  
  
I formulated a plan. Complex and difficult, but never the less, a plan. I would get the TCTF and the Syndicate to destroy each other. I would be a double agent. If I could manage to start a full scale war between them and if things worked out right, I could take out the heads of both groups at the same time. Bad luck for me, both groups know and hate me. I was either going to have to manage to stay anonymous, or I would have to convince someone high in the ranks to do my bidding. Of course, anyone could think up this plan. Pulling it off would be completely different.  
  
I felt like crap. I knew how to take the TCTF and the Syndicate out but couldn't do a thing about it. At this lowest point, I remembered something. Shinatama. My only true friend. Her death. Her file? I had read it at my father's lab. Of course. He had a file because Shinatama had been my SLD almost since the Daodan Chrysalis was implanted. Shinatama had a fail-safe programmed into her. The fail-safe prevented the destruction of her consciousness. When she was hooked into that attack module, she had access to the TCTF mainframe. Before she disconnected from that attack module, she could have uploaded her consciousness into the mainframe. She buried it well because if it hadn't, I would have heard about "SLD desire to live" over the news net. Nothing stays that secret at TCTF. Not even me.  
  
I had to contact her. My DNA had to be the key. I hit the streets. I needed tech equipment, and I hadn't had time to install any in the chop shop. I called up an old acquaintance. I saved his life at the airport. Before I left he insisted on uploading his address, name, and tech number to my data link. I'll never forget the way he said that he would do anything to repay me. He didn't say it like a desperate man, more like a man that had just said the most serious and honest statement he would ever make. I pulled out my data link, I was amazed I still had the thing, and pulled that note. I found his address and name. I looked at the tech number and realized that he hadn't been working at the airport. He must have been a passenger because his tech number was that of someone very high up on the corporate ladder.  
  
I threw on my black leather, grabbed my gun, an Mk6, and rode my bike to his place. I arrived at his address. It wasn't hard to miss. It took up just about the entire block.  
  
I stopped my bike at the gate and slid off to talk to the guard. The guard approached me with his stun rod drawn. Didn't surprise me. He asked why I stopped here. I said cooly and calmly, "I am here to speak with Mr. Phillips. I am a recent acquaintance of his." The guard seemed surprised by my calmness and backed into his guard station to use the intercom. He spent about a minute talking to who I assumed was Ryan Phillips. I noticed the surveillance camera turned and looked at me. I looked up at it and lowered my sunglasses. Just about then, the guard came out and told me that Mr. Phillips is delighted to see me here. The gates slid open and I road my motorcycle to the front steps and parked.  
  
I saw Ryan at the top of the steps and a smile crawled across his face. I walked up the steps and greeted him. He invited me in. As I stepped through the door, a buzz was emitted by an unseen speaker. A guard on the inside of the door told me to remove whatever weapons I was carrying. Ryan looked unsure of what to do. He informed me that it was his policy not to have weapons inside the house beside what the guards had, and even they were limited to stun rods. I took my Predator out and removed the ammunition clip. I put the gun into my hip holster and the clip in my jacket pocket. Ryan appeared relieved.  
  
Ryan was obviously fortunate enough to be in good favor of the right people because his house was tricked out. It was the most gorgeous thing I had seen in a long time. He later informed me that a complete security grid was tied into the architecture. He led me to a room that had a few chairs and a low table. I could only assume this was an informal meeting room. He had his servant bring some drinks and a few light snack dishes. I thanked him accordingly. I told him that my name was Mai Hasegawa, and that I needed his help.  
  
He attained a serious look and appeared businesslike in posture. He asked calmly what I needed. I informed him that I was going to need hacking equipment, a DNA scanner, a 3D interface, a top of the line security system, an independent power generator, an expert hacker, and at least 2 million credits.  
  
Before I could spit out the words, I know I'm asking for a lot, he spoke.  
  
"Done. And that will be 4 million credits."  
  
I was speechless. I couldn't believe that he was completely willing to do that. I knew that this house could have only cost him one and a half million credits. I also knew that I had a complete look of surprise on my face and I couldn't manage to get rid of it.  
  
"If I could just ask you one question. What are you planning on doing with this stuff?"  
  
I choked out the words. "I'm going to hack the TCTF mainfra..."  
  
"No. I mean in the long run. What goal are you going for? Seriously."  
  
With the gravest tone I have ever used in my life, I said "I am going to destroy the Technology Crimes Task Force and Syndicate terrorist group for good. I will bring so much chaos to both groups that they won't even consider regrouping for 50 years."  
  
"Well that works in my favor anyway. I work for a genetic research company. I am Vice President of MetaCortex. My company works in advancing DNA research. Our goal is to map human DNA and advance it to the next evolution. Similar to the Daodan Chrysalis you hold inside of your body. Yes, I worked with your father and your uncle on the Daodan project. Unfortunately, MetaCortex wasn't as willing as the Syndicate to kidnap your father and uncle. So now the TCTF baby sits our work, looking for what your father had found, the Chrysalis. The Syndicate also makes regular break-in's to see if we have discovered the Chrysalis. If you destroy both groups, I believe we can make a breakthrough."  
  
"Ummmm.... Wow. That's amazing. I never saw anything about MetaCortex in my father's records."  
  
"That's because MetaCortex's dealings with your father and Kerr were kept off the record to protect each other's best interests. In other words, a lawyer can't burn either of us for doing something the TCTF restricted."  
  
A wave of realization hit me. "So me destroying the Syndicate and the TCTF will not only work in both our favors, but it will lead to the actualization of my father's dream."  
  
Ryan started ordering the equipment immediately. He helped me install everything, but first I had to put up an atmospheric scrubbing net. It cleaned the air within the bubble it created and made it so that Ryan's technicians could work. I was amazed at the speed and accuracy of the installations. It took a month to complete and a week into it Ryan started showing up to keep me company.  
  
We grew to be close friends. The first I had besides Shinatama. It was then that I noticed that Ryan was actually quite attractive. I decided to move that thought to the back of my brain, since a relationship was out of the question at this time.  
  
After Ryan's techs had everything installed, he brought in his hacker, and we started looking. Specter and I decided that we should insert my DNA as our running code. It wouldn't stick out since my DNA is no stranger to the mainframe. Three days into it, we found something. Specter said it looked like a small scratch in the mainframe itself. I think Specter and I determined at the same time that Shinatama could be hiding in a hidden pocket of the mainframe. Specter placed his fingers onto the 3-Dimensional wall of the mainframe and slid his hand onto the scratch. The scratch slowly turned into a piece of paper with a number scrawled onto it. Specter recognized it as a file number for the TCTF mainframe archive.  
  
We headed to the archive and found the file, eventually. The file was Griffin's. Specter and I thought we had made a mistake, but then he noticed a slightly discolored word. He placed his hand on the word, and it slowly turned into a drawer. Specter opened it and was instantaneously thrown from the interface. It took a few minutes for him to come to. He told me that either I had to be the one to open the "drawer," or it's just a booby trap laid into Griffin's file. I couldn't take the chance.  
  
I opened the drawer and it felt like I was sucked into it. At first I couldn't see. Then I heard her voice.  
  
"Scanning subject... Cleared. Hello Konoko."  
  
Oh her voice. So sweet. So innocent. I missed and loved her so much. "Hello Shinatama. I missed you."  
  
"I missed you too Konoko. But you shouldn't have had to access this file. Did I die?"  
  
"Griffin killed you. But that doesn't matter because you're still here."  
  
"Konoko, who tried to access this file before you?"  
  
"That was Specter. He was helping me hack the TCTF mainframe. Oh I'm using my real name now.  
  
"Good. Mai, why did you try to find me?"  
  
"I missed you Shinatama. I love you.... And I need your help."  
  
"What do you need?"  
  
"Well, I need you to help me formulate a plan of action. I'm going to take out the TCTF and the Syndicate. It needs to be done within the next year, before they become too powerful."  
  
"You're going to set them against each other."  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"We have the same brain patterns, remember? I will download myself to your hookup and leave this file location here. I have created invisible lines to all the crucial areas of this mainframe. Downloading..... Disconnect yourself Mai."  
  
I pulled myself out of the interface and watched as the screen turned into Shinatama's face. I turned to ask Ryan if we could manage to find an SLD to download Shinatama into. Without speaking, Ryan took one large step to his right, and behind him was what looked like an exact copy of Shinatama.  
  
"It's a brand new state-of-the-art SLD. I had her modeled to fit Shinatama's physical parameters. I thought that you deserved to have someone you loved in the tangible world." Specter moved to hook up the new SLD to the computer while introducing himself to Shinatama.  
  
After the SLD had been moved I closed the gap between myself and Ryan. I hugged him, and then that thought I had so recently locked away resurfaced. I kissed him on the cheek and then his lips. My love ached for him, and I had wanted to love him for what seemed like forever. Now I could. And once again, I felt happy. I had two people who loved me with all their heart and I returned their love three fold.  
  
Continued with Part Two of the Power Struggle Trilogy: Laying the Groundwork 


	2. Laying the Groundwork

Part Two of the Power Struggle Trilogy: Laying the Groundwork  
  
The following picks up right where "Part One of the Power Struggle Trilogy: Aftermath" leaves off.  
  
Mai stops writing for a moment and thinks back to that moment. She focuses on it. Slowly a tear runs down her cheek. She remembers how happy she was at that point in time and wonders if that happiness will survive the terrible course she is about to embark upon.  
  
Mai decides that if her love and happiness is meant to survive, it will pull through and continues her journal.  
  
"So Ryan, Shinatama, and I began to formulate our plan. After a few days of brainstorming, we decided on selling anonymous information. It's not like we needed the money, but giving the information away would look a little suspicious. We figured on around 3,000 credits for each piece of intelligence. The only problem was that we didn't have an agent on the inside of the Syndicate.  
  
Ryan had a solution to that particular problem, but I did not concur with the simplicity that he applied to it. He remembered the man that threatened him on the Chrysalis issue went by the name of Michael Howard. Ryan thought that he could contact him and reach an agreement about MetaCortex's research. He planned on making a deal in which he let the Syndicate see everything that happened at MetaCortex on a regular basis, and then they would stop breaking in.  
  
Unfortunately, Ryan would have to become a part of the Syndicate, and that put him in danger of the TCTF. Much to my disliking, that was really the only way I could get someone inside to retrieve information.  
  
Ryan told me that he had to have a conference with the President of MetaCortex to run the idea by him. I wished him luck and managed to give him a kiss before he slipped into his car. I sat down with Shinatama, who was now in her new SLD, and asked her if that plan was for the best. Shinatama told me that Ryan becoming a part of the Syndicate would be our best way of retrieving information. I knew she was right, but I still didn't like it.  
  
Shinatama and I spent the next few days looking through the TCTF mainframe for things like shift schedules, attack plans, building floor plans, and crucial strike points... The kind of stuff you would need to take over buildings and convoys of supply transports.  
  
Ryan returned from his trip to South America to speak with the company president a week after he left. I asked him almost as soon as he got into the room how it went. Ryan smiled.  
  
"He likes it. He took to it a lot easier than I thought he would. I was under the impression that I was going to need to do some serious debating to get him to go for it. I couldn't have been more wrong. He jumped at the idea of not being attacked by the Syndicate. We'll just have to be careful and make sure the TCTF and the Syndicate observer are never there at the same time."  
  
"So did you enjoy yourself the rest of the week?"  
  
"Well, Mr. Edwards insisted that I stay for the week. I missed you. But, yes, besides you not being there, everything was wonderful."  
  
I kissed him again. I then looked at him very seriously. He seemed confused.  
  
"You have just started working for the most dangerous group in the world. You have to be very careful, keep in the right light with all the important people, and at no moment while you are there, be thinking about me or what we are doing. Do you understand me?"  
  
"Yes. Completely."  
  
And then it started. We began giving information to the Syndicate first. We limited contact through the mail. We gave them the schematics, shift changes, and staffing of a building that the TCTF had confiscated from the Syndicate 7 months ago. I wrote it by hand and and delivered it through street mail. I signed it "Anonymous Freedom Fighter." I also wrote that this one was free just to get their confidence, but that the price for all further information would be 3,250 credits for each operation. When more intelligence is needed they were instructed to send a high frequency message that said "My dog needs another bone" to an old lighthouse that was on the bay shore. The street mail was delivered once a week, but we couldn't afford to leave an electronic tag on an E-mail.  
  
We had set up surveillance at the building that we had leaked the information on. We had also put up surveillance at the lighthouse along with a transmitter that would relay the message to another transmitter that was across the country, and then that transmitter would relay the message to the chop shop.  
  
I had hooked up cameras around the building before I sent the message. Exactly one week after I sent the letter, I saw a large van make a visit to the building. It pulled up and parked on a different street every three and a half hours. Consistent with the shift change. If their schedule was correct, the same guard would never see the van twice.  
  
Fourteen hours later, four shift changes, I saw ten black armored trucks surround the building. Strikers piled out of each truck. I approximated 20 strikers to every truck. They also had people disguised as TCTF units, setting up road blocks around the building. They charged through the building in a controlled an ordered formation. Within 23 minutes I heard cheers from the building. I could only assume that their plan went off without a hitch. Of course, how could it have had a hitch? I gave them everything they needed.  
  
The next day, we received the message along with instructions for receiving the money. We were to send someone dressed as a bum to a particular alley, and he would collect the money. That was what they were willing to do, and it was perfectly exceptable. We found a bum on the street and offered him 4,000 credits to go and collect the money. We told him to drop the money into a garbage can four blocks away and to sleep next to it. He would receive the 4,000 credits when we collected our money. About 13 hours after his "recruitment," we found him, sleeping by a trash can. We woke him and then proceeded to dig out a bag that had a money symbol on it and contained the credits. Cute. We paid him and agreed to make this a regular deal, but instead of trading money, he would work for Ryan and receive regular pay. He jumped at the idea.  
  
We let the Syndicate hit another target before we contacted the TCTF. Shinatama put an E-mail in the director's mailbox. She made sure that the electronic tag had a Syndicate signature. Of course, I'm sure the director got threats from the Syndicate constantly, but he still had to read them to make sure he wasn't caught off guard. He was given the location of a Syndicate bunker containing weapons, drugs, and most importantly, a shipment of elite battle suits. The battle suits were the bait, and I knew they'd bite on it. I gave them the staffing roster, floor plans, and the entrance. If they were interested in receiving more little tid bits of information, they were to send a low frequency signal to the same place we were having the Syndicate send their messages. They were to send "My dog needs to be put to sleep" and a payment method for 3,125 credits. I signed it "Hurt Employee." I was intending for them to think that the Syndicate had screwed me over and that I was getting revenge.  
  
I had already set up surveillance around the bunker, and that same day that I had sent the information, they sent a strike team. They ordered eight black ops teams into the bunker to secure the area. Three more teams would hit in 3 minutes. Four teams were to stand by outside the entrance. I knew the procedure. I caught a transmission on the scanner I had set there. They were calling for a procurement team. 15 seconds later, a standard procurement team charged into the bunker and pulled out crate after crate of battle suits. Apparently, the report the Syndicate released was not entirely accurate in amount. I estimated three times the number of suits recorded on the order.  
  
That night, the TCTF sent their message saying that they would pay for more information when I revealed who I was. I'm not sure if I laughed out loud or not. Ryan, Shinatama, and I decided it would be best to let the Syndicate continue their attacks. In about a week or so, we had prepared four missions and sent three of them. The TCTF was begging at the end of the week. Saying that they would pay for another piece of information with absolutely no strings attached. I agreed. We set up our payment plan so that it would be wired to Ryan's anonymous account in the Pacific South East. Ryan's account had never received his name. He was only a number. There had never been a database to link a person to a number. The only clean bank left in the world.  
  
We spent the next two months handing information over to the TCTF and the Syndicate. We were pumping that money into backup funds in case something bad happened during our dealings. I didn't bother to look at the fund until we were close to the end of the second month and found that it had amounted to quite a sum of money. Nearly three hundred thousand credits. Of course we were handing out about five missions to each group each week!  
  
Our missions were random at first; we were building trust and accountability. So two months into it, we switched from being random to strategic in our attacks. We had set up the first half of our missions in our spare time. The three of us had set up the first three months of attacks planned. We were set for four missions on each side every week.  
  
These next months would be grueling because we couldn't let anything slip. Shinatama had to concentrate on being invisible within the mainframe, and Ryan had to play it cool at the Syndicate. I had been working on my combat skills since the beginning of all of this because I knew I was going to need them when I got to the end of our shadow games. Ryan informed me that on his off time, he used to practice martial arts and had a list of the world's best instructors. He called them up and had them come to the chop shop and train me. Strangely, they liked the chop shop because they said it was quiet and had lots of open space to practice. I learned two forms of Kung Fu, Kendo, and Kali. I perfected my aim with the Ares Predator II. It was a lot like the Campbell Equalizer Mk4, but was fully automatic. I had worked hard on completely eliminating the recoil with either hand, and aiming was as easy to do as pointing my finger. It was my gun of choice by far.  
  
I felt ready to go physically, but mentally I thought I was in trouble. Ryan and I had grown closer still, and my affection toward Shinatama had multiplied also. I was afraid that if I continued with the end of our plan, I could lose one of them. I didn't think I could handle that. I still don't think I could handle losing Ryan or Shinatama. I started to second guess the plan, but Ryan and Shinatama both, told me that what we were going to do was more important than the three of us combined. They calmed me down and we kept going with our plan.  
  
We were quickly crippling the TCTF and Syndicate defenses. We had been directing the missions toward attacking defensive targets rather than offensive. Not a single mission had been stopped. I was impressed. We had run through two months of missions and already had the last two months of missions done. I had three months to perfect my martial arts and collect gear for the last part of our plan.  
  
I had acquired some very useful items. I had picked up an energy suit. It's skin tight, silver, and covers my entire body, neck down. It has gloves and stretch booties. It charges itself with an electric current. It disperses energy rounds and also disrupts energy fields and force shields. I've recently discovered that the suit can charge itself so that when I hit someone or they hit me, they get a 10,000 volt shock localized in that spot. It's cool. I got a full length black leather duster. The duster had two hidden holsters under the arms for Ares Predator II's. It was also lined with pockets exactly the right size for the guns' ammunition clips. I went ahead and got two Ares Predator II's and enough clips to fill the coat. There was a slit over the shoulder for a sword as well. I was amused. Since I had just learned how to use a sword I got a hold of a very nice kitana. It is folded titanium, acid edged, and very expensive. I also acquired a very nice, and very illegal light sword. The technology was almost brand new. Hard light has been one of science's greater discoveries. At first, it was just used for holograms, but then the government got their militant forces involved with it. The anxiety must be hitting me hard because I can't seem to keep a straight line of thought. Back to the sword. It, of course, has a purple blade, and seems to conduct my Daodan flame well. It cuts through most metals, polymers, and makes a satisfying sizzle when it cuts through flesh. It makes a continuous power hum. Probably not best for stealth. Conveniently, I didn't pay for any of this equipment. It was all obtained from intercepted shipments from the TCTF or the Syndicate.  
  
I practiced my martial arts day and night. The instructors came in for seven and a half hour shifts. I was able to practice with all four instructors a day and stay refreshed for each one. Unfortunately, all of this left little time for Ryan and Shinatama. Luckily, they were preoccupied as well.  
  
We constantly checked the final mission to see if it was precise and exact. There was zero room for error on this one. No mistake whatsoever could be permitted. The plan was to get the Syndicate and the TCTF to attack each other's headquarters, leaving very few people at both locations to guard the facility. While both groups were occupied with destroying each other, I was supposed to kill the Triumvirate and the Director of the TCTF. I had found that the Syndicate, in times of emergency, had the Triumvirate regroup at an underground bunker to discuss attack plans. It was well guarded at all times. I would have to break in unnoticed, get to the battle room, and kill the Triumvirate, along with all of their bodyguards. Then I have to break out of the bunker alive.  
  
As soon as I've escape the bunker, I have to ride to the airport to get onto a prepped cargo plane. I'll fly two countries away to where the Director will have fallen back to. I will proceed to break into a 947- story building where the director will be hiding. The building is the headquarters of a fiber research company. To unlock the mid-floor levels, I have to access a terminal in the President's office on the top floor. I think a roof entry would be the best penetration point for that. I will then break into the 538th floor, and proceed to the office directly behind the elevator shaft. Once inside, I kill the director, his guards, and backup personnel. I need to get out of the building and regroup with Ryan and Shinatama on a hired plane set toward an airport in Anchorage, Alaska. From there we transfer to a private jet for an island where Ryan has a condo.  
  
This was the perfect time to take out the leaders of these groups.  
  
When I kill the Triumvirate, a power contest will take place. The Syndicate is run by the most powerful member of the group. Having a Syndicate rank meant next to nothing. The three people with the most resources, power, money, and allies will always be at the top of the Syndicate. The Syndicate is always weak when it is picking a new leader, but with the added destruction from TCTF forces, the Syndicate will be crushed between the TCTF and itself. How fitting.  
  
Killing the Director will do astronomical damage to the TCTF. Since I killed Griffin, the Director has filled all the high ranking positions underneath himself with people who couldn't tell their left hand from their right. This was fully intentional on the Director's part. He made it so that no one would even consider pushing him into early retirement. Should the Director be forced to quit, an idiot would fill his position and the TCTF would never get anything done. I found irony in the fact that the Director's desire for job security would crush the TCTF with added pressure from the Syndicate.  
  
Within three weeks, both groups would be destroyed. There would only be threads for people to hold onto, and eventually those threads would be gone as well. It was an ingenious plan. Fortunately, the only person on the planet who has a chance in hell of pulling it off, is the one trying to do it. After I destroy the TCTF and the Syndicate, MetaCortex will be able to work twice as fast. The truth about the toxins on the planet will be released, and with all the money that will be "given" to me by the Syndicate and TCTF, MetaCortex can afford to implant a chrysalis in everyone who is in their reach. The technology will be given to other facilities to implant the people that MetaCortex cannot get to.  
  
I spent the last months looking forward to tomorrow. Now, the anxiety is pounding through me like a bull. I'm so worried that I'll mess this all up and let the world down. But I can't have an ounce of doubt in my mind tomorrow or I will blow it. It's just so hard to believe that two years ago, I was the most important TCTF prospect. I was so sure of myself too. I didn't think that there was anything that I couldn't handle. Little did I know that I would hold the fate of the world in my hands. I had to succeed. I just had to."  
  
Mai stops her log. She turns off her data link and packs it into a box. She puts an express mail label on it and sends it to the condo that they will hide out at until everything blows over. She leans against a wall and puts her head down. She thinks about all the good moments that she experienced with Ryan and Shinatama in the past year. She misses the simplicity of her life with the TCTF, but discourages the thought when the death of Shinatama brushes her mind.  
  
Mai realizes that she is fatigued slightly from those thoughts. She glances at the clock and sees that it is 8 am. Ryan woke up for work about a half hour ago and should be leaving in 15 minutes. She calls him on her vid screen. "This is it Ryan. This is what all our work has lead up to. There is no margin for mistakes today. None."  
  
"I know. I would prefer not to be there, but my supervisor at the Syndicate has called me in to look at something his scientists have found. I'll try to be out of the building when it happens, but I have no guarantees. I'll be careful though, okay?"  
  
"It has to be alright. Listen. Don't do anything at any time to blow your cover, but don't get yourself killed, either. I love you, Ryan."  
  
"I love you too, Mai. I'll see you at the airport."  
  
The vid screen goes blank. Mai walks over to the mainframe interface, where Shinatama is double and triple checking every aspect of the TCTF attack plan. She believes that if the TCTF can time the power outage at the Syndicate Headquarters with the initial strike team hit, the plan of attack is perfect. Shinatama has checked every order form, delivery invoice, and roster change to make sure that the attack will be timed correctly, and that Ryan will have enough time to get out of the building. Mai thanks Shinatama for her persistent perfectionism.  
  
Mai glances at the clock again and realizes that if she wants to sleep instead of meditating, she would have to sleep soon. She slips out of her clothes and into her bed. Slowly, she sinks into a subconscious state. She dreams of life after tomorrow. Her life is simple again. She has Ryan. She has Shinatama. There are no threats to humanity left. All there is for her to do is to relax.  
  
She wakes abruptly to Shinatama. Shinatama informs Mai that it is 2 PM. The Syndicate and TCTF forces will be hitting in approximately 25 minutes. Mai slides out of bed refreshed. She puts on her energy suit first. She loads her Predators and holsters them in her duster. Mai loads 30 clips into her coat and hides her light sword on the small of her back. She slips her kitana over her back through the slot in her coat, and unlocks it from the sheath. She says goodbye to Shinatama and that she will see her tonight on the plane. Mai steps out of the chop shop and into the surreal effect made by the sun reflecting off of the toxic atmosphere. She puts on her sunglasses, slides onto her bike, and charges toward the most important night of her life.  
  
Continued with Part Three of the Power Struggle Trilogy: Endgame 


	3. Endgame

Part Three of the Power Struggle Trilogy: Endgame  
  
The following picks up three and a half weeks after "Part Two of the Power Struggle Trilogy: Laying the Groundwork."  
  
Mai lays right where the water washes onto her thighs. It is a beautiful sunny day, and she is trying to enjoy every second. But as she sunbathes, something is tugging at the back of her mind. She pulls out her old data link and browses over what she had written. She decides that this story needs its ending and she provides one.  
  
"I walked out of the chop shop knowing that this could turn into the worst day of our collective lives. Though Shinatama and Ryan were confident, I was forcing myself to believe it would be okay, that I would be here at this island and that the ones I loved would be here, too. I had to believe that, and so I did.  
  
I pushed my bike to the limits. I road as hard and as fast as I could. I knew that the TCTF and Syndicate had already begun their attacks. I knew that if I didn't push every second, the distraction would be pointless, and I would have tons of troops all over me. All of my attacks had to be calculated, all moves surgical, and every thought suppressed. I had to be outside of my body, seeing all around me while I was focusing on my attack. Complicated, as it seemed, I had done the same when I took out Griffin at TCTF HQ two years ago.  
  
I arrived at the Syndicate bunker in 20 minutes, 45 minutes after the main attack had begun. It looked like a run down car detailer. It was a one story building and would normally be dismissed as a normal out-of-business establishment. Perfect... Or so they thought. I hid my bike in an alley and engaged the antitheft mode. I double checked my Predator II's to make sure they were loaded correctly and would not jam. I had hand-loaded every bullet into the ammunition clips I carried in my coat. I charged my suit and disappeared from vision.  
  
I slipped into the bunker through a missing board in one of the windows. What I saw inside, was exactly what I would have expected the inside of an old building to look like. Broken glass, deteriorating walls, and cracked tile floors. I looked for something out of place. I couldn't find anything. I started to panic, wondering if the location was incorrect, when something caught my eye. It was a brand new security lock on the doors to the back room. If no one had used this place in over 20 years, why would there be a new lock? I had found the entrance.  
  
The lock was a metasteel super-lock, the so-called unbreakable lock. It crumbled in my hand with ease. I slid the doors open carefully, and began my search for the main entrance.  
  
The back room looked the same. Old and dilapidated. Broken glass, dirt, mold... a door not rusted? My stomach jumped. I went to the door and examined it carefully. It had obviously been put in within the last 6 months, due to the lack of dirt. I couldn't find the handle though. I scanned it for hinges, handles, locks, anything. I could have easily broken down the door, but then I would have been swarmed by strikers and the Triumvirate would split.  
  
I looked around the door. At first, nothing stood out. When I moved closer to the door, I noticed this spot 3 inches to the left of the middle of the left side of the door. It appeared like the rest of the wall but had a dark circle where there was no paint or dirt. I assumed it had been used recently. I applied pressure to it slowly, but it didn't move. I pushed and turned, but there was no effect. A thought fluttered through my mind. I knocked on the wall and then the circle. The difference I heard was stone and metal.  
  
I slipped back to my bike and came back. I had gotten the super magnet from the tool compartment. Sure enough, it stuck to the circle. I pulled on it and the circle pulled away from the wall. I removed the circle of metal from the wall and found a number pad behind it. Easy. I removed the faceplate screws with the magnet and proceeded to disengage the lock. When I heard the locking mechanism open, I reengaged the number pad and placed the circle of metal back in place. I slipped the magnet into my pocket and slid through the door, carefully closing it behind me.  
  
Inside was my reassurance that I hadn't got false data. I saw exactly what I expected of a Syndicate installation. Metal. Floor, ceiling, walls, desks, and consoles were all metal. This was obviously a high security area, protected from all high power ballistic and energy weapons. Good thing for me that I was relying on brute force. There was a guard stationed at every 50 feet of hallway and every intersection. The strikers on hall duty had SMG's while the intersection guards had plasma rifles. The workers even had small caliber pistols.  
  
I definitely wasn't looking forward to a frontal assault with everyone. So, I crept slowly and silently toward the battle room.  
  
Though the path should have been straight, the main path was littered with static defenses that even I couldn't manage to slip through. I had to go the long way, the air ventilation ducts.  
  
I found an empty room and then opened up the vent cover on the air duct. I looked inside, and was surprised by the fact that there was nothing in the duct. I climbed in and moved through the ducts quickly and silently. After what seemed like endless turns, drops, and rises, I arrived at the duct to the battle room. The vent cover had been welded shut, and a security bot had been stationed to face the vent, so if anyone attempted to break the welds, the security bot would attack and set off the alarm.  
  
I had read the schematics of a Syndicate security bot. They vary in size and shape but all have the same computer system. They see infrared, so they don't attack debris. They were standardly equipped with dual SMG's but could be modified to carry plasma rifles, depending on size. I assumed this one had SMG's although it didn't really matter. I drew a Predator in one hand and put my light sword on the duct floor. I pulled a clip out of my jacket. I threw the clip at the vent cover and shot it before it hit. The clip exploded in red-orange flame, and destroyed the security bot and that end of the duct simultaneously. However, I saw none of this because by the time I had shot the clip, I had already picked up and activated my light sword.  
  
I sliced through the duct with ease, and dropped down lightly. I expected a hail of gunfire my way, because I was holding my sword, but the Triumvirate and nine strikers looked confused at seeing an explosion at one end and a purple burst that severed the duct at the opposite end. By the time they had realized my presence, I had moved within striking range of the Triumvirate. As I beheaded the first, Michael Primauster, the duct peeled away from the ceiling and hit the floor. Seeing the second, John Masters, fall in half, the strikers opened fire.  
  
My flame ignited instinctively, and the bullets melted on contact. I shot two strikers in the head as my blade left the third, Peter Wingfield, in five pieces. I quickly deactivated my sword, put it behind my coat, and pulled the other Predator. I opened fire and dispatched the remaining seven strikers.  
  
The noise we had generated brought the strikers outside the door and in the hall into the room. They looked around stunned and confused. They saw the Triumvirate and the bodyguards in a pool of blood. I was cornered but in no way afraid. I emptied my clips into the first fifteen. I saw that there were 37 strikers behind the ones I had just dropped. I holstered my guns and went hand-to-hand. The strikers finally retaliated with a rain of bullets and energy blasts. The energy blasts that weren't stopped by my flame were absorbed by my energy suit. I grabbed a striker and threw him at the others, falling short due to the force of the energy blasts that hit him. I jumped into the middle of the group. The strikers quickly spread out but not before I broke the knees of the three that were closest to me with a leg sweep.  
  
A large blast burst against my back. It was much more powerful than a plasma rifle. I spun around to see a security bot that had been released from a hidden compartment. It was equipped with a wave motion cannon. I dove behind a striker. The bot ripped right through him. Since that worked so well, I ran around the perimeter of the room, and sure enough, the bot tore through every striker. I ran around to the bot, while pulling out my light sword. In the same motion of igniting it, I sliced through the main CPU. I came back around and sliced the cannon off of the mount. I put my light sword on my back, loaded my guns, and picked up the cannon. I deactivated my flame and was again invisible.  
  
I ran down the hall at a fairly good pace. I decided that stealth was no longer an option. I came to the first set of static defenses, and I used the cannon to destroy the defense guns. The guards looked confused, while I proceeded to bash them in the head with the cannon. I did the same at the second and third static defense grids. On my way to the fourth grid, I realized that the cannon was out of ammunition.  
  
I stood three feet from the infrared net, and I hurled the cannon at one of the strikers, pulping him on impact. The guns tracked the cannon through the grid. I took this opportunity to rip one of the guns off of the wall and then use it to bash the other gun to pieces. The other striker was stunned with surprise. I punched him in the face, the force of my blow tearing his head from his shoulders.  
  
I ran at full speed toward the exit. There were about a hundred strikers guarding it, set up in semicircle waves. I drew my Predator's and blasted a hole through their formation. Still moving at full speed, I jumped and kicked the door off of its hinges. I wasted no time in charging through the wall, into the alley containing my bike. I deactivated the antitheft and blasted forward towards my plane.  
  
Four blocks away, I glanced back for tails and saw four syndicate motorcycles. They appeared to be gaining. I had become visible and deactivated my flame, but it didn't matter. They were lined up in two's, preparing to flank me on all four corners. I set my cycle on auto-drive, which automatically decreases my speed to the limit, bringing me from 275 mph to 20 mph in 2 seconds. I used that time to draw and reload my guns. I stood on my foot pegs and fired full auto at the four strikers. All of them dropped in a bloody mess of twisted metal. I reloaded, slipped my guns into their holsters, deactivated the auto-drive, and proceeded toward the airport.  
  
Again I peered over my shoulder, and to my relief, saw no one following me. I used the time given by the drive to figure out how I'm getting to the roof of the TCTF fallback point. I could glide from a taller building. I could get dropped from a hired plane at the airport. I could also just zip- line from another building. I decided that zip-lining would be the easiest way.  
  
I approached the airport at top speed. As I burst through the gate to the runway, I noticed cars and motorcycles in my mirror. I programmed the auto- drive to move at top speed to the cargo plane. I drew my guns and turned around on my bike. Three cars and six bikes. The syndicate must have deployed them from other locations. I shot all of the bikers and one of the drivers. The other two cars had bulletproof glass. I blew out the tires and looked back. I was 10 seconds from the plane. The cars opened fire and my flame went up. The bullets slagged on impact. 5 seconds. Strikers in both cars began to fumble around with rocket launchers. I was in the plane as the launchers were stuck out the windows. As the door began to close, I shot each striker in the hand, forcing them to drop the rocket launchers. I got away clean. I just wish I could say the same about my next stop.  
  
I used my flight time to meditate. Visions crept into my meditation. Me lying on the beach. Shinatama happy. Ryan relaxed. TCTF black ops. Syndicate strikers. Ryan dead. Shinatama destroyed. Me... imprisoned with no reason to escape. I snapped out of my meditation. I was sweating. I looked at the time. One hour, fifteen minutes to deployment. I used the rest of my time to try and get some sleep. I dreamt about the future of the world, and when I awoke, I felt calmed. The pilot walked into the cargo compartment.  
  
"We've arrived. Where's my money?" I handed him a cred stick with the remaining half million of his payment.  
  
"Thank you. I appreciate your bravery. It's hard to come by these days." He looked confused and lifted off almost as soon as my bike hit the runway.  
  
I looked forward for once. Past the mess of this hell created by the TCTF and Syndicate, to my life after this. Would it be better? It had to be. No TCTF trying to dissect me, and no strikers looking for a reward. I looked at a life with normal worries. Strange, I thought. I refueled my bike and approached my destiny with open arms.  
  
I roared out of the airport, toward the TCTF fallback point. By now, they had probably heard about the Triumvirate being killed. I was hoping that they were celebrating. The only thing that worried me was whether or not the TCTF had heard a report of the assassin in the Syndicate bunker. I think I killed everyone who saw me there, but I wasn't as sure about security cameras. I had to hurry.  
  
My bike was at top speed, 350 mph. I wasn't worried about the police. They were pushovers. They don't even bother with anyone moving at over 260 mph. I approached the side street of the building. As I looked up, I confirmed that the building right next to it was 138 stories taller than the fallback building.  
  
Again, I slipped my bike into an alley. I pulled my zip-line out of my cargo compartment, then loaded my guns, charged my suit, and disappeared from view. I walked into the lobby of the neighbor building. The doors were kept open. I immediately noticed the guards at the elevators. I guess they were there to ensure that no unwanted individuals were admitted to the higher floors. After doing some quick searching, I found the staircase. It was hidden from view, next to the laundry room. I made sure no one was looking and began my 1085 floor climb.  
  
I moved at a fairly good pace. I was doing 50 floors a minute. I was amused that on every floor, I heard guards. Did they think that it was beyond anyone to climb stairs? I approached the last floor 22 minutes later. I looked at the roof entrance. The stairs led right into a wall of metacrete. Either there was some kind of hidden terminal, or they decided to block off the door to the roof. It didn't matter to me because every second counted, and I wasn't about to try and figure it out. I put my hand on the wall and drew my light sword. I sliced out a large hole and held the chunk of metacrete. I put my sword back and pushed the piece out.  
  
The piece of metacrete was two and a half feet thick and had to weigh at least three quarters of a ton. I set it down, careful not to make any noise. I shot my zip-line into the outside edge of the roof. I shot the other end of the line at the roof of the fallback building. I attached my riding handles to the line and slid off the edge of the building. I slid quickly, and for a split-second I was unsure if the speed control was engaged. Doubt was purged from my mind when the riding handles began to slow as I got closer to the building. I came to a stop and let go of my handles.  
  
I approached the roof door, which was metal. My hand was reaching for the handle, when I heard voices from behind the door. I spun around behind the door. I watched two black ops agents walk onto the roof with two women, a blonde and a brunette. They didn't have their helmets, and their radios were turned off. One had a gun. They appeared to be trying to convince the women to have sex with them. The women didn't seem too interested. I slipped my super magnet in-between the door and the frame to ensure that no one else came out.  
  
I shed my coat and guns. I took off my gloves, and all I had was my energy suit. I became visible around the back side of the roof entrance. The agents continued their attempts on the women. I slipped out from behind my cover and walked over to the four of them. They lost all interest in the other two women.  
  
"Hey baby, wanna have some fun?" the one with the gun asked.  
  
"We'll make it worth it," the other chimed. I closed with him and ran my hand down his cheek. He moved his hand in place to grab my butt.  
  
"Careful. Look, don't touch." He disregarded my comment and grabbed anyway. He ripped his hand away screaming. "Told you." The other started laughing hysterically. I slipped over to him while his friend was staring in awe at his charred hand. I deactivated my suit and removed the shirt and jacket of the agent with the gun. I wrapped my arm around his waist so that I was still facing him. I was sliding my hand down his chest when the other started screaming, telling him to kill me.  
  
"You were the one being an idiot," he told him.  
  
"I don't care! Look what she did to my hand!" He held his charred and now bloody hand up for him to see. I continued down his chest. My hand was at his belt.  
  
His screaming persisted. I had undone his belt, and it fell to the ground. The one with the bloody hand saw the gun hit the ground and went for it. I had undone his pants when the bloody-handed one had gotten to it. He rolled back and fired. By the time he fired, I had gotten his pants down to the ground. When the bullet left the barrel, my flame activated, blowing the naked one back away from me.  
  
I saw a wave of realization pass over their faces. It was obvious that they now knew who I was. It was too late. I walked to the one with the gun as he emptied the clip. He panicked and began to run. I had him as soon as he turned around. I broke his neck with one hand and took his gun with the other. By this time, the naked one had gotten his pants up and had picked up his jacket. I deactivated my flame and pounced on him. I pinned him and removed a clip from his jacket. With my knee on his chest, I reloaded the gun. I shot him in his left knee.  
  
I turned to the two women, who were staring in a mix of horror and amusement. I gave the gun to the blonde. "Have fun, but don't kill him, and don't let him leave." They thanked me. I put my gloves back on and charged my suit. I grabbed my stuff, turned invisible, and proceeded through the roof door, collecting my super magnet as I passed.  
  
The door to the top floor was locked. It was 10-inch titanium, had a bolt locking mechanism, and was airtight. Good for lock-down situations. I used my magnet to slide the bolt back. I opened the door slowly and examined the situation. There were two agents posted at the elevator, four at the door to the director's office, and five stationed throughout the hall. I slipped out of the stairwell and moved toward the director's office. The guards were complaining to each other about how they got screwed in not being able to participate in the party downstairs.  
  
A guard noticed that the door wasn't locked. "Damn it Frank! You gotta lock this thing!"  
  
"Sorry, I just get so preoccupied with the crap they put us through that I forget."  
  
"Well, it's there to keep people out. Stop forgetting."  
  
I had gotten to the director's office. I placed my ear on the door and heard two men arguing. One was telling the other that he didn't know how to do his job and that the director needed to be here instead of him, due to his idiotic behavior. I heard the angry one walking toward the door. I backed off in front of one of the agents. The door opened, the man stormed out, and I slipped in just before the door shut.  
  
Inside, I found the assistant director, four bodyguards, and a black ops agent. The assistant director and the black ops agent were exchanging their views on the director. They thought that he should be protected right now, instead of celebrating. I had moved in between the two. I was set up so that the assistant director and black ops agent were at my peripheral and the four bodyguards were in front of me. I drew my guns and aimed at the assistant director and the black ops agent. I fired at the two, killing them with my first shots, and swept my guns in front of me, shooting all four bodyguards, instantly dropping them.  
  
I charged the door, which an agent had begun to open. I jumped and kicked him in the face, my momentum breaking his neck and carrying me out of the room. I pistol whipped the two agents two my right and kicked the other one in the head. The six agents, Frank, and the other man saw the four drop, dead.  
  
"Phase cloak!" Frank ran to a terminal and pressed a sequence of buttons. A red light filled the room, and the agents put their visors down. "There! It's her."  
  
We both opened fire. I shot the other man first, then the agent that yelled at Frank. My flame ignited and took six shots. I fired again, killing all but Frank. He shot at me and missed. I fired at the terminal and killed the red light. I deactivated my flame just after it took two shots from Frank. I moved at him low to the ground in a curve. He spun, firing wildly. I came up, and disarmed him. He was laying on the floor in complete terror. I destroyed his gun and holstered mine.  
  
I became visible and picked him up off of his feet, roasting the flesh I touched. I moved toward the elevator. Frank was in enormous pain and couldn't speak. I slammed him against the wall next to the elevator. I pried open the doors and lifted Frank over the shaft. I took pity and broke his neck before I dropped him.  
  
I waited about 3 minutes for the alarm to sound. When it did, I entered the elevator shaft by digging into the inside of the shaft, next to the door. I lifted my now taloned fingers from the wall slightly and began to slide. As sparks flew, I watched for a door that looked different. After two and a half minutes, I saw a door that was made of a different metal from the others, newer as well. I slid two floors past it, but climbed back to the door. I held onto the wall with one hand, while I dismantled the door with my light sword. I watched the door land on the elevator that Frank's body had caved-in.  
  
Five guns poked into the shaft. I sliced their guns in half and jumped into the hall. It was covered in black ops agents, who were all armed. The five agents that no longer had weapons charged me. I went flat against the floor, slipped between the middle agent's legs, and with a large sweeping kick, sent them into the shaft. I saw at least 175 men. They charged me in rings of 15. The first wave charged, and I felt a strange sensation. The sensation evolved into mental commands. My flame ignited and began to stretch away from me. It enveloped the agents and stopped behind them. The agents faces turned pale, and their lifeless bodies hit the floor. My flame stayed at its distance. I started to feel faintly fatigued, but it wasn't the gunfire. The faces of the agents turned from looks of anger to looks of horror. My flame began to expand again. It was taking the shape of a dragon as it stretched faster. It was not harming the agents as it passed through them. Once this "dragon" had filled the room, every agent burst into purple flame. As soon as the last agent hit the floor, my flame dissipated into its original form. I deactivated the flame and walked around the elevator shaft, seeing that all of the agents there, had also been killed and lit on fire.  
  
I walked toward the director's room, visible, with my kitana drawn. I was going to enjoy this kill. This was the man that was responsible for everything. He averted his eyes countless times, allowing Griffin to do whatever he deemed necessary. I opened the door and walked in.  
  
The director was sitting behind his desk. There was a guard to each side of me. I kicked the one to my left in the chest, breaking his ribs and puncturing one of his lungs. I charged the guard on my right, leading my elbow into his throat. I left him on the floor to suffocate. The director had activated the lock-down sequence on this room, which included a protective wall surrounding his desk. I jumped and flipped over the rising titanium ring. I had him alone and unarmed. I felt a little guilty that I was going to kill an unarmed foe. Then I let my blade slip through his flesh.  
  
The director was still alive when I finished with my sword. I took off my glove and lifted him from the pool of blood he had left. I sheathed my kitana and used my light sword to remove the wall. I made my way to the roof, unabated.  
  
I lifted the director over the edge of the roof.  
  
"Did you really think you could get away with your crimes against humanity? You think that you are the saint in this world. You believe that anything is the appropriate means if it gets more money and more power into your pocket. You let a little girl be mutated into a freak. Well this freak won't go silently." I dropped him off the side of the roof. I took the gun from the two women and told them that they were to use the stairs to get off the roof and to tell the TCTF that I held them captive. I left the agent to be found later.  
  
I used my zip line to go to the neighbor building. When I got to the roof, I was surprised by 145 TCTF agents and seven mounted wave motion cannons. I drew my light sword and psyched myself for the fight. Before I got a chance to attack, the cannons attacked me simultaneously. The concussion of the attack blew me off the building. I knew that I was going to fall about two and a half miles, much more than I had fallen before. I put my sword away and focused on that feeling I had inside. I longed for that mental suggestion. After I had fallen half way, the feeling returned. My flame enveloped me, and nothing else happened. I trusted myself and went for it. As I hit, my flame exploded around me. I left large crevices in the street. I ran to my bike. I disengaged antitheft, hopped on, and headed to the airport.  
  
There was a message on my bike. I answered it while I blew out of the alley. The small vid window lit up. Shinatama's face filled the screen.  
  
"Mai! They found our hideout. There are strikers everywhere! I'm not going to make it to the plane. You have to get to the plane. Leave me! You and Ryan are more important...." The screen went blank.  
  
I spun my bike around. I should have been going towards the airport to get back to get a plane back to the chop shop or at least on the plane with Ryan. Instead, I was roaring in the direction of Shinatama. Looking back on this, there should have been no way I would have tried to cover two countries and come to her rescue. The more I focused on Shinatama's distress, the faster my bike went. The speedometer rose to max at 325 mph. I kept accelerating. I didn't have any idea of my speed, but my bike rose off the pavement and kept moving.  
  
When I was 3 feet off the ground, I saw this wave of light in front of me. It washed over me quickly, and I can only assume I had ripped into sonic speeds. A purple energy coursed through myself and the motorcycle. It was a rush, however, the exhilaration deterred me in no way from Shinatama. I could only imagine what those bastards were doing to her. I ripped past Quantum Park, the first designer of mach 15 jet engines, located on the border of Tsamin and Fjorhin, where I was headed. I blazed down the main street to MetaCortex, shattering windows and ripping tiles from the buildings. I had reached visual range of the chop shop. Bright flashes, roaring gunfire, and screams filled the air.  
  
I reduced to subsonic speed. I threw my flame up, drew my guns, and braced myself for the impact.  
  
I didn't actually hit the wall so much as force it away from me. I leaped off of my cycle and went into a firing dive. I shot five strikers and ran two over with the motorcycle. I rolled to my left to take cover behind a metacrete pillar. I saw fifteen strikers, five furies, and one who appeared civilian. I wrapped around the far side of the pillar and fired twelve times, all twelve bullets hitting their targets. Seven strikers, one fury, and one civilian. They returned with a volley of energy rounds. I rolled back behind the pillar and continued the motion with a side flip to come around the other side. I shot the five strikers and the fury, leaving the civilian.  
  
I ignored him, being more concerned with Shinatama. I headed toward the main area of our base. I burst through the door in a rain of wood splinters. The gunfire roared... but not at me. I hooked my head around the doorway. Shinatama was facing off against 45 or 50 strikers. They fired simultaneously. The bullets howled toward her. I ran to save her, but she was too far away. I came six feet short. I watched as the bullets sailed toward the childlike body. The bullets ceased to exist when they got within four inches. Each bullet dissolved when it hit a blue barrier in front of her body. When the gunfire stopped for the strikers to reload, I saw 24 slots on Shinatama slide open. She stood, legs spread, arms wide and proceeded to fire rapidly at all of them. Bullets poured from each individual slot as she screamed in a blood curdling rage. Every striker dropped to the ground lifeless.  
  
She looked to me with a look of happiness to see me and then disgust at what she had done. She was not programmed to kill. Her look of confused emotion shifted instantaneously to what was unmistakably pain and terror. She looked down, as I did also, to find a blue crackling hand ripping her in two from the abdomen. I looked up and saw the civilian I had carelessly left behind. He would die slowly for his mistake.  
  
I charged him with guns blazing. I fired at full auto, emptying my clips. I reloaded and emptied the fresh clips into him as well. He was unfazed. A blue electricity sizzled around him, vaporizing the bullets. I dropped my guns and drew my light sword. He didn't move. I struck him five times in one fluid series, each time having my sword bounce away. I threw it to the floor while drawing my kitana. Still, he had yet to budge. I swiped at his head, leaving his neck intact and my sword in two. I dropped my coat and threw my hands up in a fighting stance.  
  
"Why do you fight me, Konoko... Or is it Mai? We are the same. Both Daodan enhanced, both children of the TCTF, and both destined to serve the greater good."  
  
"You are Daodan enhanced? You're full of shit! I was deep in the TCTF archives and there was no word of a third Chrysalis."  
  
"On the contrary, I am a Daodan child. The TCTF has developed another Chrysalis. It is stronger and free from the hosts emotional defects. My code name is Prometheus. I am five times as powerful as Muro at his transformation. I promise that if you come back now, I won't kill you."  
  
"You? Kill me? Now I know you're seriously fucked in the head. If you think you have a chance, go for it. I've killed people like you before."  
  
Prometheus seized up in a look of pain. Static charged the air. Blue white bolts ripped from his body, hitting the walls. He refocused his attention to me again, his eyes now blazing with blue white electricity. I ran at him with my flame at full blast. He watched me run towards him. He stared at me and let loose with a bolt from his hand. It hit me square in the chest and sent me back against the wall. I shook it off and retook my stance. Prometheus let loose with bolt after bolt in my direction. I dodged them with a great amount of effort.  
  
It felt like I had been dodging these bolts for days. I thought he would tire eventually. Figuring I couldn't outlast him, I began to weave toward him. He saw my attempt to close with him. He discontinued his volley of bolts. He focused on his hands, and they gained a blue electric energy. I charged him, hoping I could best him in hand to hand. I got three body blows in before he landed a punch on my shoulder. I flew back 25 feet. I looked at my shoulder to find a large black mark on my suit. I focused back to the TCTF fallback point, when I had released that energy beast. I concentrated on that feeling again.  
  
Prometheus, seeing me deep in concentration, charged me with fists blazing. My eyes flared with purple white flame. My fist jumped to block his punch. Our hands just locked into an energy clash. An ear-shattering crackling began to form. I forced my entire Daodan flame to manifest in my arm. Prometheus, caught off guard, staggered back. I let my flame course back over my body. I focused back on that dragon again and tried to make it take shape. I felt a warm, content touch on the back of my body. Prometheus's eyes widened as I jumped at him.  
  
I struck Prometheus seven times, each time the dragon behind me followed through with my strike. Prometheus flew back in a howl. I jumped on top of him, my knees pinning his arms to the ground. I hit him in the face repeatedly, the dragon doing so as well. The crackling started again, between my knees and his arms. I forced my flame down at him, and doing so forced the dragon down at him as well. I kept hitting him, channeling all the pain from the past two years into raw anger toward Prometheus.  
  
When I finally lifted myself off of him, I was exhausted and my arms hung limp at my sides. I looked down at him and saw what appeared to be a burnt- out husk of his body. I almost felt sorry for him, considering that he was in-fact a Daodan creature like myself.  
  
I whipped around to check Shinatama. She sizzled with sparks.  
  
"Mai, I told you not to come back. You have to leave. Make sure Ryan is safe."  
  
"Shinatama... I couldn't leave you. I love you. I'm supposed to try and save you."  
  
"I'm going to die. Save Ryan. There is no sense in staying here. More strikers are coming. I love you Mai. Go."  
  
I grabbed my coat, light sword, and guns. I pulled out my old bike and headed toward the airport. I rolled out of the garage, and a spotlight hit me in the face. A ladder unrolled and Ryan yelled, "Mai! Hurry! Climb up. The Syndicate are 30 seconds from here." I pulled myself up the ladder as we flew off. I climbed into the main compartment. Ryan was sitting there with a worried look.  
  
"Mai, I know you told me to stay safe, but you didn't show up, and the alarm went off at the base. I thought I should pick you up. Shinatama didn't show up either. Where is she?"  
  
"She's dead."  
  
"Oh, Mai. I'm so sorry."  
  
"Just get us out of here."  
  
The chopper roared to the airport, where we transferred to a jet to Anchorage. I was silent on the flight, telling myself that it wasn't my fault. But it was my fault. I didn't bother to even take a good look at that guy. We transferred at Anchorage to the private jet. We got to the island and Ryan woke me up. I had fallen asleep while thinking about that situation. I hadn't realized how much energy I had exerted. Ryan took me to the room. I laid in bed and slept all night.  
  
I awoke to breakfast in bed. Ryan was trying to get my mind off things. I told Ryan that some things weren't that easy to get your mind off of. We ate breakfast and talked about what had been publicized. Nothing had come out yet.  
  
I spent the next two weeks just moping around the room. Ryan held me for most of the time, but it was ridiculous that we had gone through all of this. It was at the end of those two weeks that someone knocked on the door. Ryan opened it and returned with a disk. He popped it into the vid viewer. Fatal error sounded in Shinatama's voice. Her voice continued:  
  
"Data corrupted in transmission. Audio data recovered, only. Hello Mai."  
  
"Shinatama?!"  
  
"Yes, Mai. I sent a backup of myself to the island before you left that day. I assume that I died, as I expected."  
  
"But, how did you know that they would come?"  
  
"Your Chrysalis hatched there. It was just a matter of time before the TCTF or Syndicate found our base. We weren't going to have time to move. I was ready for it to happen."  
  
Shinatama was back, at least her voice was. Her program was no longer capable of supporting video or running an SLD. She could only support her AI and voice. That was good enough for me.  
  
Five days passed before the incident hit the net. They had attempted to contain the information, but once a little bit leaked, it moved like wildfire: "The Syndicate terrorist group and the Technology Crimes Task Force were ripped to shreds by an unknown assailant." "Who is this unknown hero? Why did they do it?" "Bright flashes of light were seen deep in the poisoned zones." "Experimental speed bike propelled by a streak of light seen outside MetaCortex." The reports were both serious and ludicrous, yet in a way, all true. The public now knew the truth. The blindfold had been ripped from their faces. I would now have to relax."  
  
Mai deactivates the data link. She is satisfied with the record. She rises from her spot on the beach and heads to the bar. Mai hands the data link to a waitress and asks her to run it up to her room. She leaves a note for Ryan saying that she'll be back in a few hours. Mai walks into the ocean and takes a long relaxing swim.  
  
This concludes the Power Struggle Trilogy 


End file.
